Question
Mouth pain and HIV?
22 December 2007. Related: All topics, HIV transmission.
I’ve only ever had unprotected sex outside of a long term relationship twice in my life. The second time was 6 months ago.
Literally a couple of days afterwards I had a very intense headache for a week and then I got a burning sensation at the back of my
mouth which I still have 6 months later. I have indigestion, intermittent pain in the ears and I bring up thick carbonated phlegm a lot and there is a white coating at the back of my tongue.
I had a full sexual health check 6 weeks after exposure (I know it was too soon to detect HIV but I was extremely anxious and eager to seek advice) and I had an HIV test 3 months after exposure – both tests thankfully came back negative.
The doctor at the GUM clinic was extremely helpful and reassured me that it was highly unlikely that my bad mouth was due to HIV or an
STD. She said if it was HIV I would have probably encountered additional symptoms but 6 months later I am still suffering with inflammation at the back of the mouth so I am wondering whether I should get retested?
The doctor at the GUM clinic said that if the mouth pain was caused by HIV it may have even shown up as weakly positive after 6 weeks
and everything I’ve read online informs that 3 months should be long enough for an accurate result.
I was taking acid reduction tablets for indigestion up until a couple of days before my second test – am I right in assuming these
wouldn’t have any effect on the test.
Sorry for such a long message but the coincidence between my mouth pain and unprotected sex has been a constant source of worry. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Answer
The doctor in the GUM clinic is totally right. The tests clearly show that you are negative. The acid reduction pills could not have affected the result of the tests.
Perhaps it is a good idea to contact your GP for a referral to a specialist who could check your state further for the reason of your current condition. Maybe it is also good
Many thanks for the reply, I greatly appreciate your help. My main concern is the coincidence between the sore throat and the unprotected sex but it certainly looks as though this coincidence has been brought on by anxiety rather than any STD. A specialist has checked out my mouth and although she said it is a little inflammed she didn’t think there was anything to worry about and didnt think it was worth seeing me again unless it got worse. Many thanks again